^nibergitpofigort!)  Carolina 


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Educational  Publication  No.  125.      Div.  of  Elementaby  Instruction  No.  28 


More  Efficient  Supervision 

o£  our 

Rural  Schools  an  Economic 
Necessity 

1928 


Published  by  the 

State  StrpERiNTEXDENT  of  Public  Instruction 

Raleigh,  N.  C 


INTRODUCTION 

This  argument  for  the  improvement  of  classroom  instruction  through 
supervision  was  prepared  by  Mr.  L.  C.  Brogden,  Director  of  the  Division  of 
Elementary  Instruction.  The  basic  facts  were  obtained  by  measuring  and 
comparing  educational  results  over  a  period  of  years  in  counties  which 
provide  supervision.  The  conclusions  are  based  largely  on  objective  tests" 
which  are  the  most  reliable  measures  for  school  efficiency  known  to  us  at 
present. 

In  the  last  analysis,  all  the  machinery  of  the  school  is  set  up  to  bring 
the  teacher  and  the  pupil  together  on  terms  of  mutual  confidence  and  respect. 
Anything  that  tends  to  make  this  meeting  more  effective  in  ministering  to 
the  physical,  intellectual  and  moral  needs  of  the  child  is  worth  while.  Super- 
vision undoixbtedly  keeps  the  teacher  on  tip  toe  and  causes  her  to  work  up 
to  her  capacity.  It  keeps  her  studying  her  work.  It  brings  a  spirit  of 
self-reliance  as  she  feels  her  instructional  power  increase.  It  intensifies  her 
interest  in  her  work  and  gives  her  a  more  sympathetic  attitude  toward 
children. 

Supervision  of  the  proper  type  does  not  tend  to  make  a  slave  out  of  the 
teacher.  The  supervisor  is  not  a  boss.  Her  work  with  the  teacher  is  for 
the  purpose  of  enabling  the  teacher  to  exercise  to  the  fullest  her  inate  power 
of  initiative  and  to  make  out  of  herself  a  self-reliant,  self-determining,  and 
self-directing  teacher.  The- right  kind  of  supervision  brings  the  kindly  touch 
of  human  sympathy  and  does  not  seek  to  exalt  itself  at  the  expense  of  the 
teacher.  It  should  efface  itself  and  exalt  the  pupil-teacher  relationship. 
The  teacher  has  a  right  to  look  to  the  supervisor  for  help  and  sympathy 
and  not  for  direction  and  commands. 


state  Superintendent  Public  Instruction. 


11-27-28—1250 


MORE  EFFICIENT  SUPERVISION  OF  OUR  RURAL  SCHOOLS 
AN  ECONOMIC  NECESSITY 


A  county  system  of  schools  is  not  the  spontaneous  creation  of  some  one 
brain  coming  forth  Minerva-like  in  all  its  completeness.  It  comes  into 
being  as  a  result  of  the  processes  of  growth  that  are  oftentimes  slow  and 
torturous  in  their  course. 

Birthday  of  Our  Present  Era  of  Public  School  Expansion 

"When  the  future  historian  shall  come  to  write  of  this  present  era  of 
our  public  school  expansion,  he  will  note  that  its  beginnings  were  with  the 
first  blush  of  this  present  century,  marked  by  the  election  of  Charles  B. 
Aycock  as  Governor,  and  his  appointment  of  James  Y.  Joyner  to  the  State 
Superintendency  of  Public  Instruction. 

These  two  leaders  though  hardly  in  the  prime  of  manhood  saw  with 
the  vision  of  the  prophet  and  wrought  with  the  zeal  of  the  Crusader.  They 
were  undismayed  by  the  educational  indifference  and  the  educational  pro- 
vincialism of  the  time.  They  were  undeterred  by  the  demagogue;  they  were 
unafraid  of  the  marplot.  In  season  and  out  of  season  they  went  up  and 
down  this  fair  State  proclaiming  the  gospel  of  universal  education  and  the 
equality  of  educational  opportunity  for  all  the  children  of  all  the  people.  It 
is  not  passing  strange  that  under  the  inspiring,  wise  and  constructive  lead- 
ership of  these  two  men  community  after  community  broke  down  the  walls 
of  educational  provincialism  and  that  the  old  State,  like  a  strong  man 
after  sleep,  began  to  rouse  itself  full  length  from  its  educational  lethargy 
and  rear  itself  into  action. 

From  this  auspicious  birthday  the  educational  spirit  of  the  State,  though 
at  times  hesitant  and  unsteady  because  of  the  inborn  conservatism  of  the 
people,  though  at  times  halting  while  our  political  leaders  took  counsel  of 
their  fears,  though  at  times  seemingly  lost  to  view  because  our  educational 
leaders  seemed  unsure  of  its  destined  way, — yet  withal,  its  general  direc- 
tion has  been  forward  and  its  movement  onward. 

Some  Evidences  of  Progress 

In  its  onward  course  our  average  white  rural  school  term  has  lengthened 
from  80  to  more  than  140  days;  our  white  rural  teaching  staff  increased  from 
5,390  to  more  than  13,000;  the  value  of  our  white  rural  school  property  risen 
from  $1,391,000  to  more  than  45  millions;  our  State  Equalizing  Fund  mount- 
ing from  $100,000  to  $3,250,000;  and  our  rural  annual  expenditures  for  current 
operating  expenses  expanding  from  approximately  one  million  to  more  than 
16  millions. 

The  5,491  little  white  one-teacher  schools  have  become  fewer  than  1,100, 
and  in  many  of  our  most  progressive  communities  their  existence  is  but 
a  memory  of  a  day  that  has  gone.  Back  and  back  has  moved  the  educa- 
tional sky  line  of  the  people  ever  widening  with  the  processes  of  the  suns. 
The  one-teacher  school  has  been  followed  by  the  three-teacher  school,  the 
three-teacher  school  followed  by  the  six-teacher  school,  the  six-teacher  school 


4  More  Efficient  Supervision  of  Our  Rural  Schools 

followed  by  more  than  542  white  rural  consolidated  schools  having  more 
than  six  teachers.  And  today  the  people  with  one  full  sweep  of  their 
imagination  are  beginning  to  visualize  clearly  the  whole  county  itself  as 
the  only  equitable,  economic  or  adequate  unit  for  school  consolidation,  for 
school  building  and  for  school  taxation.  In  our  imagination  we  are  behold- 
ing this  county-wide  educational  unit  with  all  of  its  elementary  schools 
become  standard  elementary  schools,  all  its  high  schools  become  accredited 
high  schools,  all  its  standard  elementary  and  standard  high  schools  unified 
and  coordinated  into  one  efficient  county  school  system  of  schools,  adequately 
taught,  bringing  into  actuality  equality  of  educational  opportunity  for  all 
the  children  of  all  the  people. 

These  are  but  a  few  of  the  educational  mile  posts  passed,  and  these  are 
but  a  few  of  the  constructive  dreamings  of  the  people  as  the  deep  and 
abiding  educational  spirit  of  the  old  State  has  steadily  but  with  confidence, 
moved  on  into  its  fuller  and  freer  life.  But  let  no  one  be  lulled  or  soothed 
into  dreamless  slumber  with  the  thought  that  our  educational  course  is 
almost  run.  For  the  end  of  our  educational  achievement  is  not  yet.  Our 
constructive  dreams  of  the  present  must  first  be  translated  into  actuality. 
And  there  must  be  finer  and  nobler  dreams  still  if  the  little  child  is  to  lead 
us  on. 

Up  to  Present  Emphasis  Largely  Upon  Development  of  School  Plant 

Until  the  present  quite  naturally  and  quite  wisely,  the  time,  effort  and 
thought  of  our  educational  leaders  have  been  largely  expended  upon  length- 
ening the  rural  school  term,  consolidation  of  schools,  erecting  and  adequately 
equipping  modern  school  buildings,  providing  better  trained  teachers,  and 
upon  the  budgeting  and  judicious  expenditure  of  the  county's  public  school 
fund; — in  a  word  upon  developing  and  setting  to  work  a  modern  and  an 
adequate  school  plant.  Expansion  along  these  lines  must  continue,  if  this 
State  is  to  provide  properly  for  the  education  and  training  of  its  rural 
pupils.  But  these  things,  indispensable  though  they  be,  can  never  be  con- 
sidered ends  within  themselves.  They  constitute  the  means  only  to  one 
ultimate  and  absorbing  end.  In  the  thought  of  old  Thomas  Carlyle  in  his 
Sa7-tar  Resartus  they  are  but  the  clothes  of  the  school.  And  as  "Life  is 
more  than  meat  and  the  body  more  than  raiment,"  just  so  is  the  school 
something  more  than  brick  and  mortar  and  beautiful  architecture;  more 
than  test-tube,  sand  table  or  physical  equipment  of  whatever  sort;  more 
than  merely  accurate  accounting  and  wisely  disbursing  the  county's  public 
school  fund.  The  one  ultimate  end  of  it  all  is  that  the  inner  life  of  the 
school  symbolized  by  the  childhood  within  its  walls  shall  have  life  and  have 
it  more  abundantly.  Hence  the  time,  thought,  effort  and  money  expended 
in  the  development  of  a  modern  rural  school  plant  can  find  justification 
only  in  proportion  as  the  operation  of  this  plant  results  in  promoting  the 
unfolding  and  the  expanding  life  of  the  pupils. 

Pertinent   Questions   Arise 

Therefore,  in  view  of  our  large  investment  in  the  development  and  oper- 
ation of  this  rural  school  plant,  intelligent  inquiry  is  now  arising  as  to  its 
results  in  pupil  growth,  pupil  progress  and  pupil  achievement.  Are  these 
results  justifying  the  time,  thought  and  money  expended? 


MoBE  Efficient  Sitpkrvision  of  Our  Rural  Schools  5 

In  the  light  of  our  expanding  Equalizing  Fund  from  $100,000  to  $3,250,000; 
in  the  light  of  our  expanding  annual  expenditures  for  current  operating 
expenses  from  approximately  one  million  to  more  than  sixteen  millions, 
with  increasing  frequency  pertinent  questions  are  being  asked  by  those 
who  help  to  pay  the  bill. 

Are  our  rural  pupils  better  graded  and  classified  today  than  before  our 
little  schools  were  consolidated  into  big  schools? 

Are  our  pupils  reading  any  better,  spelling  any  better,  or  working  arith- 
metic any  better  now  than  before  we  lengthened  our  school  term,  increased 
the  salaries  of  our  teachers  and  raised  our  school  tax  rate. 

Are  our  seventh  grade  graduates  of  this  year  any  better  prepared  for 
high  school  or  the  every  day  duties  of  citizenship  than  the  seventh  grade 
graduates  of  previous  years? 

Are  our  rural  teachers  having  that  constant  and  efficient  professional 
guidance  and  direction  necessary  to  enable  our  children  to  make  the  rate  of 
progress  they  should,  or  necessary  to  make  each  tax  dollar  expended  for 
their  education  yield  the  most  in  service  to  them? 

To  these  vital  questions  the  people  making  this  investment  are  entitled 
to  an  answer  based  not  upon  mere  guess  or  upon  conjecture,  but  upon  facts, 
accurate  and  convincing. 

But  to  whom  in  the  county  shall  the  people  turn  for  light  other  than  to 
their  county  superintendent,  county  board  of  education  and  county  board 
of  commissioners?  For  those  officials  are  the  legally  constituted  authorities 
mutually  responsible  for  carrying  out  the  county's  part  in  providing  for  the 
proper  education  of  all  the  rural  children  in  the  county.  And  in  many  of 
our  most  progressive  counties  in  which  the  county  superintendents  are  being 
given  adequately  trained  rural  school  supervisors,  these  officials  are  enabled 
to  make  answer  to  the  people  in  terms  of  facts,  accurate  and  trustworthy. 
But  in  the  vast  majority  of  the  counties  in  which  the  county  superintendent 
is  without  adequately  trained  supervisors,  it  may  be  no  exaggeration  to  say 
that  these  officials  are  in  a  large  measure  having  to  rely  for  their  answer 
upon  the  Christian  virtues  of  faith  and  of  hope. 

But  what  man  of  good  business  sense  will  continue  to  invest  his  money 
in  a  business  if  at  the  end  of  each  year,  the  management  is  unable  to  tell 
whether  the  concern  has  made  or  lost  money  and  just  how  much;  is  unable 
to  tell  whether  the  quality  of  the  output  is  being  kept  up  to  standard  or  is 
falling  below  standard;  or  unable  to  tell  whether  the  quantity  of  production 
is  greater  or  less  than  in  the  previous  year,  and  just  how  much? 

Frequently  the  question  comes  from  the  well  intentioned  but  poorly  in- 
formed— What  is  our  county  superintendent  for  anyhow?  Why  can  he  not 
visit  all  the  schools  in  our  county  and  remain  long  enough  on  his  visits  to 
tell  us  at  the  end  of  each  year  the  rate  of  progress  our  pupils  are  making, 
and  the  rate  of  progress  they  should  be  making? 

Why  can  he  not  visit  each  classroom  in  the  county  often  enough  and 
remain  long  enough  to  give  our  teachers  the  professional  help  they  need  in 
promoting  adequately  the  progress  of  the  pupils? 


6  More  Efficient  Supervision  of  Our  Rural  Schools 

Why  cannot  our  county  superintendent  give  that  professional  direction 
and  guidance  to  the  teaching  force  of  the  county  that  will  afford  a  reason- 
able guarantee  to  the  people  that  every  dollar  being  expended  for  teachers' 
salaries  is  yielding  in  teaching  service  to  the  children  all  that  it  can  reason- 
ably be  expected  to  yield? 

These,  too,  are  vital  questions  and  are  oftentimes  asked  in  sincerity 
and  should  be  answered  in  sincerity.  But  to  these  pertinent  questions  the 
most  intelligent  experience  of  this  State  and  Nation  makes  answer.  No 
one  county  superintendent,  unaided  and  alone,  though  he  have  the  wisdom 
of  a  Horace  Mann,  or  the  physical  endurance  of  a  Gene  Tunney,  can  meet 
adequately  the  imperative  demands  upon  him  for  a  business-like  adminis- 
tration and  for  efficient  direction  and  supervision  of  the  classroom  work  in 
the  county.     And  you  ask,  "What  are  the  county  superintendent's  duties?" 

Administrative  Duties  of  County  Superintendent 

If  he  carries  out  the  requirements  of  the  public  school  law,  he  acts  as 
secretary  to  the  county  board  of  education;  keeps  records  of  all  deeds; 
reports  on  the  condition  of  school  buildings;  makes  a  county-wide  survey 
of  his  county  necessary  for  intelligent  consolidation  of  his  schools,  and 
aids  the  people  in  making  this  county-wide  plan  operative;  looks  after  the 
erection  of  all  new  consolidated  school  buildings  and  notifies  from  100  to 
300  school  committeemen  of  their  duties;  issues  second  and  third  grade 
certificates  when  necessary,  keeps  record  of  all  teachers,  approves  their 
election,  signs  contracts  with  them;  signs  all  monthly  vouchers  and  recom- 
mends the  classification  of  all  the  schools  in  his  county;  prepares  his  school 
budget,  keeps  record  of  all  school  finances,  court  fees,  forfeitures,  and  penal- 
ties; and  is  responsible  for  a  wise  and  business-like  disbursement  of  all  the 
county's  public  school  funds. 

And  this  is  what  the  law  requires  of  the  county  superintendent  on  the 
purely  administrative  side  of  his  work. 

With  these  manifold  administrative  duties  to  perform,  is  it  passing 
strange  that  he  has  time  enough  left  to  spend  on  the  average  only  1.9  days 
per  week  in  visiting  his  schools,  with  an  average  of  37  minutes  per  visit 
and  a  total  average  of  less  than  63  minutes  in  each  classroom  in  the  county 
during  the  entire  school  year?  With  hardly  time  enough  left  from  these 
administrative  duties  for  even  pop  calls  upon  his  teachers  in  their  daily 
classroom  work  is  the  county  superintendent  to  be  condemned  for  indolence 
and  professional  inefficiency  because  at  the  end  of  the  year  he  is  unable 
to  tell  the  people  with  accurate  and  convincing  facts  whether  their  children 
are  making  the  rate  of  progress  they  should  be  making,  because  he  has  been 
unable  to  give  his  teaching  staff  the  professional  help  needed  to  promote 
adequately  the  progress  of  the  pupils?  And  is  he  to  be  censured  because 
of  his  failure  to  give  that  needed  direction  and  supervision  to  an  average 
teaching  force  of  156  teachers  in  57  separate  schools,  scattered  over  an 
average  territory  of  518  square  miles,  that  will  afford  to  the  tax  payers  of 
the  county  a  reasonable  guarantee  that  every  dollar  of  their  tax  money 
expended  for  teachers'  salaries  is  yielding  in  teaching  service  to  the  chil- 
dren all  that  it  can  reasonably  be  expected  to  yield? 


Moke  Efficient  Supervision  of  Our  Rural  School's  7 

And  yet,  what  man  of  sound  business  judgment  will  continue  to  invest 
his  money  in  a  business  enterprise  in  which  the  foreman  or  superintendent 
is  spending  only  1.9  days  per  week  in  personal  contact  with  the  employed, 
stimulating,  directing,  and  supervising  their  work?  With  so  slight  an 
amount  of  supervision  the  term  "big  business"  would  soon  become  obsolete 
for  the  big  business  enterprise  would  ere  long  recline  in  the  arms  of  its 
receivers. 

Big  Business  Believes  in  Efficient  Supervision 

But  big  business  believes  in  efficient  supervision  and  amply  provides 
for  it.  Go  into  one  of  our  largest  and  most  efficiently  organized  and  directed 
department  stores  and  we  find  one  supervisor  for  about  every  26  salespeople. 
Go  into  one  of  our  largest  and  most  efficiently  organized  banking  houses 
and  we  find  one  supervisor  for  every  15  or  20  employees;  go  into  one  of 
our  largest  and  most  successfully  conducted  hospitals  and  we  find  one'  super- 
visor for  every  five  to  fourteen  nurses;  go  into  one  of  our  largest  hosiery 
mills  and  we  find  one  supervisor  for  every  50  operatives. 

Go  into  one  of  our  largest  and  most  efficiently  conducted  cigarette  fac- 
tories and  observe  the  making  of  the  cigarette  from  the  beginning  of  the 
process  until  its  completion.  Notice  that  for  about  every  20  operatives  there 
is  an  efficient  supervisor,  or  checker,  constantly  in  personal  contact  with  the 
worker,  closely  directing  and  supervising  the  work  at  every  stage  in  the 
process. 

Is  it  passing  strange  that  with  this  constant  intensive  and  effective  super- 
vision the  stockholders  of  this  going  concern  are  handsomely  rewarded  for 
their  investment? 

Supervision  in  Making  Cigarettes  and   Supervision  in  Making  Citizens 

Now  go  into  a  nearby  county  and  observe  the  operation  of  another  and  a 
different  business  concern.  This  concern  is  not  engaged  in  turning  out 
cigarettes  to  be  blown  away  in  smoke  and  ashes.  It  is  engaged  in  the  rather 
important  undertaking  of  educating  and  training  the  more  than  7,000  boys 
and  girls  into  efficient  citizenship  for  the  county  and  the  State.  This  big 
enterprise  is  the  county's  rural  school  plant.  It  is  composed  of  68  separate 
units  or  white  schools  and  fifteen  colored  schools,  a  total  of  83  separate 
units.  The  68  white  schools  are  taught  by  188  teachers  whose  average 
scholarship  is  only  about  seven  months  above  high  school  graduation.  This 
teaching  staff  is  not  housed  in  one  big  building  but  located  over  a  territory 
of  520  square  miles. 

In  1926-1927  the  entire  teaching  staff,  white  and  colored,  received  in 
salaries  a  total  of  |120,576.00  while  the  total  rural  school  budget  was  $344,- 
540.00. 

The  county  superintendent,  responsible  for  operating  this  plant  has  no 
rural  supervisor  to  assist  him.  His  administrative  duties  are  so  many 
that  he  is  finding  the  time  to  spend  on  the  average  only  25  minutes  in  each 
classroom  in  the  county  during  the  entire  year.  With  this  small  time  allot- 
ment for  each  classroom,  can  the  people  of  the  county  reasonably  expect 
their  superintendent  to  tell  them  accurately  at  the  end  of  the  year  the  rate 
of  progress  made  by  their  children  in  mastering  the  common  school  branches, 
or  the  rate  of  progress  they  should  have  made? 


8  MoEE  Efficient  Supervision  of  Our  Rural  Schools 

With  this  small  time  allotment,  can  the  people  reasonably  expect  their 
superintendent  to  tell  them  at  the  close  of  the  year  with  accurate  and  con- 
vincing facts  just  how  much  more  progress  their  pupils  are  now  making 
in  reading,  in  spelling,  and  in  arithmetic  than  before  their  schools  were 
consolidated,  modern  school  buildings  erected,  school  term  lengthened  and 
teachers'  salaries  increased? 

With  the  small  amount  of  time  for  school  visitation,  direction,  and  super- 
vision of  the  work,  can  the  people  reasonably  expect  their  county  superin- 
tendent to  tell  them  accurately  just  how  much  better  prepared  for  high 
school  or  the  ordinary  duties  of  life  the  seventh  grade  graduates  of  this 
present  session  are  than  the  seventh  grade  graduates  of  two,  four  or  even 
five  years  ago? 

With  only  time  enough  for  a  25-minute  pop  call  upon  each  teacher  in  her 
classroom  is  the  county  superintendent  to  be  condemned  for  professional 
inefficiency  because  he  has  been  unable  to  give  his  teaching  staff  that  direc- 
tion and  supervision  needed  to  promote  adequately  the  progress  of  the 
pupils? 

With  their  county  superintendent  having  only  time  enough  to  make  this 
25-minute  pop  call  on  each  teacher  in  her  classroom,  can  the  management 
of  this  plant,  the  county  board  of  education  and  county  board  of  commis- 
sioners, afford  the  taxpayers  of  the  county  convincing  assurance  that  each 
one  of  the  $344,540  in  the  rural  school  budget  is  yielding  in  teaching  service 
to  their  children  all  it  should  yield? 

The  management  of  the  business  concern  engaged  in  making  cigarettes 
believes  in  supervision- — constant,  intensive,  and  efficient;  recognizes  it  as 
an  economic  necessity  and  amply  provides  for  it  in  its  budget.  The  slogan 
of  this  business  concern  is  "We  check  the  checkers."  It  supervises  the 
supervisor.  But  what  value  does  the  management  of  this  school  plant  attach 
to  efficient  supervision?  Its  answer  may  be  somewhat  reflected  in  the  25- 
minute  pop  call  made  by  the  county  superintendent  upon  each  teacher 
during  the  entire  year. 

The  Executive  Budget  and  Expert  Supervision 

Conducting  the  fiscal  affairs  of  our  State  government  constitutes  big  bus- 
iness in  the  true  meaning  of  that  term.  And  here  we  have  the  executive 
budget  with  the  Governor  of  the  State  as  Director  and  one  Assistant. 

(1)  In  this  act  the  General  Assembly  clearly  recognizes  the  economic  neces- 
sity of  constant  direction  and  efficient  supervision  of  the  auditing  and 
expenditures  of  the  State  revenues.  In  section  2  of  the  Act,  we  read: 
"It  is  the  purpose  of  this  act  to  vest  in  the  Governor  of  the  State  a  more 
direct  and  effective  supervision  of  all  agencies  and  institutions  of  the 
State,  for  the  efficient  and  economical  administration  of  all  such 
agencies." 

(2)  The  Director  of  the  State's  finances  does  not  have  to  rely  upon  moral 
suasion  alone  but  is  clothed  with  ample  power  to  make  his  vigilant 
supervision  effective.  In  section  5  we  read:  "The  Director  shall  have 
power  to  examine  under  oath  any  officer,   head   of  department  or   em- 


More  Efficient  Supervision  of  Oub  Rural  Schools  9 

ployee  thereof  ...  to  furnish  information,  to  compel  the  production 
of  papers,  books  and  accounts  or  other  documents  under  the  control  of 
such  ofiBcer." 

(3)  Not  only  is  this  Director  empowered  to  examine  into  the  methods  of 
accounting  and  auditing  that  may  be  in  force  but  is  also  empowered  to 
change  those  methods.  In  paragraph  2  of  section  3,  we  read:  "The 
Director  shall  also  have  power,  if  in  his  judgment  it  appears  necessary, 
to  have  the  books  and  accounts  of  any  of  the  departments  .... 
audited;  to  supervise  generally  the  accounting  and  auditing  system 
now  in  force  and  to  inaugurate  such  changes  in  respect  thereto  as  may 
be  necessary     .     .     .     ." 

(4)  Not  only  is  the  Director  empowered  to  supervise  the  accounting  and 
auditing  system  he  finds  in  force  and  inaugurate  any  changes  he  may 
deem  necessary,  but  he  is  also  empowered  to  require  of  any  spending 
agency  in  advance  the  details  of  its  proposed  expenditures  for  the 
quarter.  In  section  18  we  read:  "Before  an  appropriation  to  any 
spending  agency  shall  become  available,  such  agency  shall  submit  to 
the  Director,  not  less  than  twenty  (20)  days  before  the  beginning  of 
each  quarter  ...  a  requisition  for  an  allotment  of  the  amount 
estimated  to  be  required  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  agency  during  the 
ensuing  quarter,  and  such  requisition  to  contain  such  details  of  proposed 
expenditures  as  may  be  required  by  the  Director."  This  may  be  char- 
acterized as  supervision,  intensive  and  effective. 

(5)  And  not  only  is  the  Director  empowered  to  examine  into,  supervise, 
and  change  the  methods  of  auditing  and  accounting  he  finds  in  force, 
but  his  supervision  is  still  further  reinforced  by  being  empowered  to 
examine  into  the  duties  and  activities  of  the  various  departments  of 
government  and  make  such  change  in  these  activities  as  his  judgment 
may  dictate.  In  section  26,  we  read:  "That  the  Director  is  hereby  given 
full  power  and  authority  to  make  such  surveys  .  .  .  examinations 
of  departments  ...  as  well  as  its  problems  so  as  to  determine 
whether  there  may  be  an  overlapping  in  the  performance  of  the  duties 
of  the  several  departments  .  .  .  and  for  the  purposes  of  determining 
whether  the  proper  system  of  modern  accounting  is  to  be  had  in  such 
departments  and  to  require  and  direct  the  installation  of  same  when- 
ever in  his  opinion  it  is  necessary  and  proper     .     .     .     etc." 

From  the  foregoing  brief  analysis  of  a  few  of  the  sections  of  this  Execu- 
tive Budget  Act,  it  is  unmistakable  that  the  State  believes  wholeheartedly 
in  the  economic  necessity  of  constant,  intensive,  and  efficient  supervision 
when  the  activities  involved  have  to  do  with  auditing,  accounting  and  ex- 
penditures of  the  State's  revenues. 

And  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  in  most  cases  the  heads  of  these 
various  departments  and  divisions,  whose  auditing,  accounting  and  expendi- 
tures of  the  State  revenues  are  supervised,  are  men  and  women  of  recog- 
nized ability,  mature  judgment,  successful  business  experience,  and  graduates 
from  our  leading  colleges  and  universities  in  this  State  and  Nation,  yet  even 
under  these  conditions  the  economic  necessity  for  this  intensive  and  expert 
supervision  on  the  part  of  this  State  Director  has  eminently  justified  itself. 


10  More  Efficient  Supervision  of  Our  Rural  Schools 

Here  again  we  see  the  application  of  the  slogan  of  big  business,  "We 
check  the  checker,  we  supervise  the  supervisor,"  for  in  reality  the  Director 
of  the  Executive  Budget  is  the  State's  expert  business  supervisor'  of  the 
activities  carried  on  by  the  heads  of  the  various  departments  of  our  State 
government  who  in  turn  supervise  the  activities  carried  on  by  the  heads  of 
the  various  divisions  within  their  respective  departments. 

With  this  close  and  expert  supervision  is  it  strange  that  the  fiscal  policy 
of  this  State  commands  the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  financiers  of  this 
State  and  Nation  or  that  the  bonds  of  the  State  are  eagerly  bought  by  the 
banking  houses  of  America? 

But  to  the  reflective  mind,  it  must  appear  unfortunate  indeed  that  this 
recognition  made  by  the  State  of  economic  necessity  for  constant  and  expert 
supervision  of  the  auditing  and  expenditures  of  the  State's  revenues,  is  not 
also  made  with  equal  clearness  by  the  county  boards  of  commissioners,  and 
county  boards  of  education  in  the  100  counties  of  the  State  for  the  super- 
vision of  the  work  today  going  on  in  the  thousands  of  rural  school  class- 
rooms, and  for  which  millions  of  dollars  annually  are  being  expended  for 
teachers'   salaries. 

A  County  School  System  and  Supervision 

Go  down  to  one  of  our  largest  counties  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
State.  It  is  conservative  to  say  that  the  one  biggest  and  most  important 
public  enterprise  of  this  county  is  the  proper  education  and  training  into 
efficient  citizenship  the  16,088  children  now  enrolled  in  its  public  schools. 
This  county  school  plant  is  composed  of  129  separate  units  or  schools — 
43  white,  52  colored,  and  34  Indian.  The  43  white  schools  are  taught  by  211 
teachers  whose  average  scholarship  is  only  one  year  and  eiglit-tenths  above 
high  school  graduation.  The  total  teaching  staff  of  430  teachers  is  not  housed 
in  one  building  but  in  430  separate  rooms  located  over  a  territory  of  approx- 
imately 1,000  square  miles. 

In  1926-27  this  entire  teaching  force  received  in  salaries  a  total  of  $278,092 
while  the  total  rural  school  budget  for  the  county  in  1927-28  was  $552,778. 
From  the  Equalizing  Fund  the  county  received  in  1927-28,  $82,859. 

The  county  superintendent  or  Director  of  this  large  and  important 
enterprise,  in  addition  to  his  duties  and  responsibilities  as  Director  of  the 
auditing  and  expenditures  of  this  rural  school  budget  of  $552,778  is  also 
the  responsible  Director  and  supervisor  of  the  classroom  work  of  430 
teachers,  teaching  in  430  classrooms,  located  over  this  broad  expanse  of 
territory  of  nearly  1,000  square  miles.  In  his  direction  and  supervision  of 
the  classroom  work  of  the  211  white  teachers  located  over  this  territory, 
engaged  in  preparing  for  citizenship  more  than  7,000  white  children,  and 
to  whom  annual  salaries  amounting  to  more  than  $196,000  are  being  paid, 
the  county  board  of  education  and  county  board  of  commissioners  provide 
no  white  rural  supervisor. 

The  administrative  duties  of  this  Director  are  so  many,  the  number  of 
separate  schools  and  the  number  of  teachers  to  visit  and  direct  is  so  large, 
the  territory  over  which  they  are  located  is  so  great,  that  he  is  finding  the 
time  to  make  approximately  only  one  visit  to  each  teacher  a  year,  and  to 
spend  with  her  in  classroom  work  on  the  average  only  40  minutes  during 
the  entire  year. 


More  Efficient  Supekvision  of  Our  Rural  Schools  11 

With  this  small  time  allotment  for  each  classroom,  can  this  Director  be 
reasonably  expected  to  keep  the  people  intelligently  and  accurately  informed 
as  to  the  rate  of  progress  these  16,000  children  are  making  in  their  studies, 
or  the  rate  of  progress  they  should  be  making? 

With  this  pop  call  of  only  40  minutes  can  this  county  superintendent 
be  reasonably  expected  to  tell  the  people  with  convincing  facts  just  how 
much  more  progress  these  16,000  future  citizens  are  now  making  than  be- 
fore the  schools  were  consolidated,  modern  school  buildings  erected,  teachers' 
salaries  raised,  and  the  rural  school  budget  increased? 

And  with  this  pop  call  of  only  40  minutes  for  directing  and  supervising 
the  work  of  each  of  these  211  white  teachers,  teaching  more  than  7,000 
white  children,  drawing  a  salary  of  more  than  $196,000  annually,  can  the 
county  board  of  education  and  the  county  board  of  commissioners  give  the 
people  who  pay  the  bill  reasonable  assurance  that  the  budget  for  teachers' 
salaries  and  the  budget  of  the  teaching  service  rendered  are  even  in  the 
neighborhood  of  balancing  at  the  end  of  each  year? 

That  constant  and  expert  supervision  of  the  classroom  work  of  these 
211  white  teachers,  drawing  annual  salaries  of  more  than  $196,000,  is  an 
economic  necessity  if  each  dollar  in  teachers'  salaries  is  to  accomplish  the 
most  for  the  children  is  so  self-evident  that  it  would  seem  to  be  beyond  the 
realm  of  serious  debate. 

State  Equalizing  Fund  and  Supervision 

Let  us  visualize  the  State-wide  situations.  In  1927-1928  county  boards  of 
education  and  county  boards  of  commissioners  in  68  counties  drawing  from 
the  State  Equalizing  Fund  did  not  provide  the  county  superintendent  with 
a  white  rural  supervisor.  In  these  counties  in  1926-1927  was  a  total  teaching 
force  of  10,646  teachers — white  8,031  and  colored  2,611,  actual  average  per 
county  of  156  (118  white,  38  colored);  a  total  of  3,867  rural  schools  (white 
2,452,  colored  1,415)  ;  a  total  average  of  57  schools  per  county  (36  white  and 
21  colored),  located  over  an  average  of  512  square  miles,  and  a  total  expendi- 
ture for  teachers'  salaries  alone  of  $6,805,652  (white  $5,843,213,  colored 
$965,438)  an  average  of  $100,121  per  county. 

In  1927-1928  the  State  appropriated  to  these  68  counties  from  the  Equal- 
izing Fund  something  more  than  $2,700,000.  In  these  counties  the  adminis- 
trative duties  of  the  county  superintendent  are  so  manifold  that  he  is  finding 
the  time  to  spend  in  visiting,  directing,  and  supervising  the  classroom  work 
of  his  teachers  an  average  of  only  1.9  days  per  week,  with  an  average  of  only 
37  minutes  per  visit  and  a  total  average  of  less  than  63  minutes  in  each 
classroom  in  his  county  during  the  year. 

With  this  small  time  allotment  left  for  visiting,  directing,  and  supervising 
the  work  of  this  teaching  force  of  more  than  ten  thousand  teachers,  can 
the  county  superintendents,  county  boards  of  education  and  county  boards 
of  commissioners  in  these  counties  tell  the  people  with  accurate  and  con- 
vincing facts  just  how  much  more  progress  the  thousands  of  rural  children 
enrolled  in  these  schools  are  now  making  than  before  their  schools  were 
consolidated,  modern  school  buildings  erected,  teachers'  salaries  raised  and 
rural  school  budget  increased? 


12  More  Efficient  Supervision  of  Our  Rural  Schools 

Can  these  officials  give  the  taxpayers  at  the  end  of  each  year  a  reasonable 
assurance  based  upon  accurate  and  convincing  facts  that  each  dollar  in  the 
annual  salary  budget  of  more  than  six  millions  of  dollars  is  yielding  in 
service  to  the  children  all  that  it  should?  Again,  to  ask  this  question  is 
but  to  answer  it. 

Efficient  Supervision  a  Proven  Paying  Investment 

The  educational  value  to  the  pupil  of  efficient  supervision  of  classroom 
instruction  has  been  clearly  proven  in  a  scientific  experiment  carried  out 
by  the  Division  of  Elementary  Instruction  of  the  State  Department  of  Public 
Instruction.  In  this  experiment  it  was  found  that  the  pupils  in  a  closely 
supervised  group  of  rural  schools  made  two  and  one-fourth  (2 14)  times  as 
much  progress  as  did  the  pupils  in  the  unsupervised  group. 

Its  educational  value  to  the  pupil  has  been  still  further  proven  by  the 
fact  that  scientific  test  results  from  seven  supervised  counties  covering  a 
period  of  three  years  for  which  well  trained  rural  supervisors  had  been 
employed  in  these  counties  show  the  average  reading  ability  of  the  pupils 
was  over  a  grade  nearer  standard  and  their  work  in  arithmetic  was  nearly 
one  grade  higher  than  it  was  when  these  supervisors  began  their  work. 
This  means,  for  example,  that  at  the  end  of  this  three-year  period  of  efficient 
supervision  of  classroom  instruction  the  fourth  grade  pupils  in  these  coun- 
ties were  reading  and  working  arithmetic  better  than  were  the  fifth  grade 
pupils  at  the  beginning  of  this  period  of  close  supervision.  In  a  word,  it 
means  that  within  this  three-year  period  of  constant  and  expert  supervision 
the  pupils  in  these  counties  gained  approximately  one  whole  year  in  their 
mastery  of  the  subjects  of  reading  and  arithmetic. 

The  monetary  value  to  the  taxpayer  of  this  efficient  supervision  has  also 
been  clearly  proven  in  the  scientific  experiment  referred  to  above  in  which 
it  was  found  that  for  every  dollar  expended  for  rural  elementary  supervision 
$7.92  worth  of  additional  instruction  was  purchased  for  the  pupils. 

Its  monetary  value  to  the  taxpayer  has  been  still  further  proven  by  the 
fact  that  the  seven  counties  referred  to  above  for  the  total  expenditure  of 
$43,160  for  supervision  over  a  period  of  three  years,  purchased  the  equiva- 
lent of  an  extra  year  of  instruction  for  the  pupils  which,  at  the  current  cost 
of  instruction  in  these  schools,  would  have  necessitated  the  expenditure  of 
$351,239.56.  In  other  words,  for  every  dollar  that  was  expended  for  super- 
vision in  those  seven  counties  for  those  three  years  $8.14  worth  of  additional 
instruction  was  purchased  for  the  pupils. 

Growing  Public  Sentiment  for  Efficient  Supervision 

The  policy  of  providing  for  more  efficient  supervision  of  the  classroom 
instruction  in  our  rural  schools  was  begun  in  1911  when  $1,500  was  secured 
from  the  George  Peabody  Fund  with  which  to  encourage  county  boards  of 
education  in  the  employment  of  rural  supervisors  to  assist  the  county 
superintendents.  In  1915  this  fund  was  exhausted  and  the  work  became 
ineffective  and  desultory.  In  1919  the  General  Assembly,  for  the  first  time, 
made  appropriations  for  it,  thereby  enabling  the  State  to  pay  one-half  the 
annual  net  salary  of  the  supervisor. 


More  Efficient  Supervision  of  Our  Rural  Schools  13 

Since  the  State  began  appropriating  money  for  this  work  in  1919,  the 
number  of  county  boards  of  commissioners  providing  the  county's  part  for 
a  supervisor's  salary  has  increased  from  six  to  thirty-one,  an  increase  of 
approximately  400  per  cent. 

Not  only  is  the  conviction  growing  among  our  most  progressive  county 
boards  of  education,  and  most  progressive  county  boards  of  commissioners 
that  the  employment  of  adequately  trained  supervisors  to  aid  the  county 
superintendent  is  an  economic  necessity  but  the  conviction  is  growing  with 
increasing  force  among  our  progressive  county  superintendents,  rural  school 
principals  and  teachers  that  the  employment  of  well  trained  supervisors  to 
assist  them  in  their  work  is  an  educational  necessity  as  well,  if  they  are  to 
render  the  rural  children  the  teaching  service  they  need. 

The  following  resolution  unanimously  passed  October  26th  by  the  teachers 
of  the  Western  District  is  concrete  evidence  of  the  growing  sentiment 
among  the  teaching  profession  of  the  State  for  more  eflBcient  supervision 
of  the  classroom  instruction  in  our  rural  schools: 

"The  Western  District  of  the  North  Carolina  Education  Associa- 
tion is  of  the  opinion  that  adequate  supervision  is  essential  to  an 
efficient  system  of  schools  and  that  both  economy  and  the  welfare 
of  the  children  of  North  Carolina  demand  unmistakably  that  rural 
supervision  be  provided  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  for  all  coun- 
ties. This  association  also  wishes  to  go  on  record  as  favoring  the 
requirement  of  the  employment  of  an  adequately  trained  supervisor 
for  reaching  every  county  that  participates  in  the  Equalizing  Fund." 

A  similar  resolution  has  since  been  unanimously  passed  by  five  other 
Divisions  of  the  North  Carolina  Education  Association,  altogether  repre- 
senting a  membership  of  approximately  12,000  teachers. 

Two  Vital  Questions 

In  view  of  the  constantly  increasing  rural  school  enrollment,  the  con- 
stantly increasing  number  of  teachers,  and  the  constantly  increasing  ex- 
penditures for  teachers'  salaries  resulting  therefrom;  in  view  of  the  present 
$3,250,000  the  State  is  now  pouring  into  the  counties  from  the  Equalizing 
Fund,  in  view  of  the  scholarship  range  of  the  rural  teachers  from  approxi- 
mately high  school  graduation  only  to  about  three  years  of  college  training; 
in  view  of  the  small  amount  of  time  it  is  practicable  for  the  county  superin- 
tendent to  give  to  directing  and  supervising  classroom  instruction  in  his 
county;  and  in  view  of  the  clearly  proven  educational  value  to  the  child 
and  the  clearly  proven  monetary  value  to  the  taxpayer  of  constant,  intensive, 
and  efficient  supervision,  quite  naturally  two  vital  questions  now  arise: 
(1)  Is  constant  and  efficient  supervision  of  classroom  instruction  an  economic 
necessity,  if  each  of  the  millions  of  dollars  now  being  expended  annually 
for  teachers'  salaries  is  to  yield  in  service  to  the  rural  children  all  that  it 
should?  (2)  Shall  State  and  county  continue  this  policy  of  expending 
annually  this  relatively  large  amount  of  money  for  the  education  of  the 
rural  children  with  so  negligible  amount  of  direction  and  supervision  of 
the  work  for  which  it  is  being  expended? 

Were  the  same  importance  attached  by  State  and  county  to  close  and 
expert  supervision  and   direction  of  the   classroom   work  now   going   on   in 


14  More  Efficient  Supervision  of  Our  Rural  Schools 

our  rural  schools  that  is  now  attached  by  the  State  to  the  direction  and 
supervision  of  the  accounting,  auditing  and  expenditures  of  the  State's 
revenues,  then  it  would  be  reasonable  to  conclude  that  the  rural  taxpayers 
of  the  State  would  have  but  little  cause  to  complain  that  their  school  tax 
is  not  accomplishing  all  that  it  should. 

"There  is  that  scattereth,  and  yet  increaseth,  and  there  is  that  with- 
holdeth  more  than  is  meet,  but  it  tendeth  to  poverty." 

Conclusion 

I  have  an  abiding  faith  that  given  the  light  the  people  will  find  the 
way  out;  that  given  convincing  facts  at  the  end  of  each  year  showing  just 
how  much  more  progress  their  children  are  making  than  before  their  schools 
were  consolidated,  modern  school  buildings  erected,  school  term  lengthened, 
teachers'  salaries  raised,  and  rural  school  budget  increased;  that  given  con- 
vincing'evidence  that  the  increase  in  the  progress  of  their  children  is  rather 
definitely  in  proportion  to  the  increase  in  expenditures  for  their  education; 
that  given  trustworthy  evidence  that  each  dollar  of  their  tax  money  for 
schools  is  accomplishing  all  that  it  should; — given  this  light  the  intelligent 
rural  citizenship  of  our  State  will  have  no  cause  to  feel  that  it  is  but  groping 
blindly  along  the  pathway  of  educational  progress,  but  will  step  with  quick- 
ened pace  because  marching  with  undimmed  vision. 

But  this  light  will  delay  its  coming  till  State  and  county  shall  have 
taken  a  more  constructive  attitude  toward,  and  made  a  rational  solution 
of,  this  problem  by  providing  adequately  trained  rural  supervisors  to  assist 
our  county  superintendents  in  constant,  efficient  direction  and  supervision 
of  this  rural  school  work  for  which  millions  of  dollars  are  now  being  ex- 
pended annually  for  teachers'  salaries. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00034036132 


FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTIC 


Form  No.  A-368,  Rev.  8/95 


